The Chinese sovereign wealth fund is about to have a new chairman, according to the Beijing rumour mill, to be Hu Huaibang, currently the chairman of Bank of Communications, China’s fifth-largest bank. Whispers in the Chinese capital suggest several other senior figures in financial circles turned down the job after the previous incumbent, Lou Jiwei, departed to become the finance minister.
It is easy to understand why the job is not highly sought after, whether the rumours prove true or not. To be head of China Investment Corp is to be the subject of criticism in the press and social media whenever it looks like an investment has gone wrong. Fear of the downside of mistakes is pervasive………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Is it possible to avoid squandering such a windfall, especially for a territory of fewer than 3,000 people? That’s what the Falklanders asked the Norwegians, who in 1990 started what is now the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.
With 4 trillion kroner ($715 billion) in assets, it returned 13.4 percent in 2012. The Falklands fund will never reach that scale, but if the islanders can replicate the Norwegians’ prudent management, they’ll be satisfied. The bottom line: Argentina still claims the Falklands, which are worth a lot more now that 400 million barrels of oil have been found near the islands………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Another blow to the palm oil industry came on March 11 when JP Morgan Asia Pacific Equity Research revealed that the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) had disposed of its stakes in 23 Asian palm oil companies in 2012, including several Indonesian companies committed to the sustainability movement.
The GPFG, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, was reported to have divested out its stakes, citing concerns about unsustainable palm oil production. The divestments appeared to be a blanket sell-down of the sector without due consideration of company-specific plantation management practices. Some of the companies are publicly known to have progressively been adopting sustainability standards and certifications………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Indian based Karuturi Global Ltd., the world’s largest rose grower, sold its firs produce from its plantation in Ethiopia. The company is also going to solicit funding from sovereign wealth fund for further investment in East Africa.
Karuturi has produced more that 20,000 metric tons of corn in the last quarter of 2012 that sold for USD 6.5 million in Ethiopia, Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, Managing Director told Bloomberg. The harvest from its plantation in western Ethiopia, showed the project was “not a disaster” after floods destroyed a 60,000- ton corn crop in September 2011, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned investment company, has set up an energy company to tap growing demand in Asia and focus on liquefied natural gas.
Pavilion Energy Pte has an initial authorized capital of S$1 billion ($806 million) and will be operational in September, Pavilion Energy said in an e-mailed statement today. The company will be headed by Seah Moon Ming, who joined Temasek as of March 1………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, which made a $575 million secondary loan, and invested as much as $200 million in equity, stands to lose all of that.
This is not the only time Singapore’s sovereign wealth funds have lost money; plenty more have been written off through failed investments like in Wall Street banks. In 2008, Temasek Holdings – the country’s other sovereign wealth fund – admitted to losing over US$46 billion in just eight months, from March to November. GIC is expected to have lost at least the same amount………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government must throw caution into the air and take great risks in pushing through with the planned creation of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) if it is serious in sustaining the country’s strong financial standing, Liberal Party senatorial candidate Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said today.Magsaysay stressed an SWF would not only strengthen the country’s resilient economic growth but expand and boost competition among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“In order for us to sustain our economic advances, we must make our entrepreneurs bigger. There are thousands of entrepreneurs and SMEs all over the countryside. Many of them are doing well but they lack necessary financial requirements to further improve their businesses,” Magsaysay said………………………………………..Full Article: Source